featured on the National Mall , filled with constitutional history and legal significance . We visited a few days after the Senate unanimously adopted the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act , which the House passed 422-3 . The statute is named after a 14-year-old boy who whistled at a white woman in Mississippi in 1955 . Four nights later , the woman ’ s husband and his brother kidnapped the boy from his bed and viciously tortured and murdered him . A jury of all white men acquitted them , and although they confessed shortly thereafter , they were never brought to justice . During a subsequent investigation , authorities exhumed Emmett ’ s original casket . Now on display at the museum , it attracts long , somber lines of people paying respects and learning about this tragedy that helped spark the Civil Rights Movement ( his family reburied his body in a new casket ). Shortly after our visit , President Biden signed the bipartisan Emmet Till Anti-Lynching Act into law .
This extraordinary museum houses countless exhibits related to the Constitution , such as depictions of state Jim Crow statutes ( including North Dakota ) and of Loving v . Virginia ( 1967 ), overturning state anti-miscegenation laws . I was delighted to observe originals of the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment , alongside copies of the 14th and 15th Amendments , displayed in the museum ’ s “ Slavery and Freedom ” exhibition . Mementos from Rosa Parks , a lunch counter from sit-ins , and other reminders of courageous acts of civil disobedience against discriminatory laws featured prominently .
My Constitutional Law students would recognize scenes from the “ Eyes on the Prize ” documentary I show each year , after first watching this film with the incoming first-year students during my initial UND School of Law orientation in August 2011 . That year , the Judge Ronald N . Davies High School ’ s dedication in Fargo included Ms . Carlotta Walls Lanier and Dr . Terrance Roberts of the Little Rock Nine , whom I was thrilled to meet . The law school brought a busload of students to the celebration , which luminaries from the North Dakota bench and bar also attended . In class , we discuss Judge Davies ’ laudable decisions – despite death threats – in conjunction with Cooper v . Aaron ( 1958 ), determining Arkansas officials must comply with federal court orders mandating desegregation of public schools . The Ronald N . Davies U . S . Courthouse in Grand Forks similarly memorializes this local legal
The National Portrait Gallery ' s " Struggle for Justice " exhibit displayed " The Four Justices ," left , and a portrait of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt , right .
legend , who had been temporarily assigned to Arkansas during that tumultuous time in the struggle against racial discrimination and for equal protection of the law .
Other sites we toured underscored the capital as a showcase of the United States as a nation built upon the rule of law , as well as our country ’ s reverence for the fundamental rights ensconced within our Constitution . The Library of Congress featured a special exhibit on Rosa Parks , who propelled the Civil Rights Movement by launching the Montgomery bus boycott . The National Portrait Gallery ’ s “ Struggle for Justice ” exhibit presented images including First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt , U . S . delegate to the United Nations who authored the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ; Senator Robert Dole , champion of the Americans with Disabilities Act ; and Thurgood Marshall , groundbreaking civil rights lawyer and first African-American justice on the U . S . Supreme Court , as well as paintings such as “ The Four Justices ” ( 2012 , illustrating the first women on the U . S . Supreme Court ), and “ Russell Means ” ( 1976 , Native American rights advocate depicted by Andy Warhol ). We stopped by the Georgetown Law Early Learning Center to reminisce with her former teacher about Cosette ’ s five years there when I worked at the Georgetown University Law Center . Finally , we enjoyed dining at the Gadsby Tavern and exploring its museum in Old Town Alexandria , Va ., where George Washington , Thomas Jefferson , and other founders formulated our country ’ s constitutional foundations .
I enthusiastically encourage other families to experience our nation ’ s capital and learn more about our U . S . history , democracy , laws , and Constitution . Cosette and I barely scratched the surface of the marvelous manifestations of the American story in Washington , D . C ., and we look forward to visiting again in future years .
1 . Associate Dean for Teaching and Engagement and Professor , UND School of Law ( julia . ernst @ law . und . edu ).
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